When visiting the CDV booth, I got to see some previews of their upcoming products, one of those is Panzers! Phase One.

Panzers is set in the second world war, all the mayor European theatre factions are represented in this highly detailed RTS game, and while you cannot change the course of history you are able to fight for the Germans from the attack on Poland to the start of the Stalingrad fiasco, the Russians from the start of the siege of Stalingrad to the conquest of Berlin and you can also play on the Allied side (American/British) from D-day to the first crossing of the Rhein river.

As a player you'll have to play the campaign in that order because there is a storyline consisting of over 150 ingame cutscenes throughout the game that incorperates your main characters or "heroes". You'll learn more about the story through letters, radiobroadcasts and diaries.

Heroes are represented in-game with a small faction icon above their vehicle or character. Besides featuring in the storyline these heroes also increase the stats of your normal units and if he dies, your game ends, so while its a vital unit to keep alive it might be unwise to keep him to far back of the action.

Your normal troops also gain experience throughout their battles. These units come in all shapes and sizes, over a hundred vehicles and many infantry units have been created so you'll have a vast arsenal at your disposal.

Units are obtained either at the start of the mission or at the end of it. After a battle you'll be able to buy troops with prestige points you'll have earned in the preceding mission by acomplishing primary, secondary or extra goals. Your primary or secondary goals are often mentioned during your briefing but you'll be able to obtain extra points for securing hidden fuel dumps or conquering additional buildings etc.
Sometimes its also possible to conquer tanks from the enemy by killing their crew or using abandonned equipment. Your units however won't be able to handle all of that different technology all that well. Not at first anyway.

All vehicles and weapons in game are between 1500 and 3000 polyglons per unit ranging from infantry to tanks. This high detail on each individual unit doesn't slow down the engine though, as you are able to use many squads and tanks, although in this particlar CDV game you'll not be using dozens and dozens of tanks at the same time (unlike blitzkrieg I & II).

Motion capturing and technical datasheets has given both infantry and vehicles a realistic feel.
Suspension makes trucks and tanks rockiback and forth and infantry runs for cover and shoots in a fluid way.

Warfare has gotten an extra dimension in Panzers! Phase One, while most RTS games only show the outside of building you'll be able to enter infantry into buildings and actually fight inside them, some buildings will even have different levels (like the Reichstag) so a house can be defended by infantry while other units higher up in the house can use antitankweaponry on the enemy tanks on the road.

light infantry usually consists of five seperate units while heavy infrantry has two units but offcourse both can be combined into groups.

In terms of realism the CDV has gone an extra step, they have used pictures of recon planes and old historic data to recreate as much as possible the old towns and area's where your troops will be doing battle.

Another few interesting extra's are the difference in group-creating and modes of play you'll have available.

When playing on easy you'll have all your units replaced with their experience intact, medium will just replace the units and on hard you'll have to fend for yourself not getting any replacements except those you buy with your prestige.

When creating groups, a big problem you'll have in most RTS games is that you'll have difficulty managing your groups either you want to combine them into one group or rename them, but this is difficult since you'll have to be able to select the right units at the right time. In Panzers! Phase one you'll be able to easily manage these groups by clicking and dragging the groupnumbers, combining different groups into one or essentially renaming a group to another number.

On the multiplayer side of things you'll be able to play the standard modes, king of the hill, ctf and general deathmatch are all available.
More may be available at launch.

This fully 3D, WWII, RTS game, with an accurate physics engine and day and night cycle will be a very interesting game to look out for. If you like tanks, infantry and german cursing, prepare yourself...